Filipino seamen return home after seven-month piracy ordeal

Manila: Nineteen Filipino seamen who were recently freed by Somali pirates after being held captive for 7 months are back home.
[Read More]
Source: Seatrade Asia

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Hanjin Heavy set to axe more staff

 Korea's Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction, which carried out a large-scale restructuring at the beginning of the year, is planning to make another round of redundancies, with 400 employees set to go, creating strong opposition from its union members. 

Hanjin sent to its labour union an official letter of 'an announcement of restructuring plan for company's survival and request to attend a bargaining related to the labour adjustment' last Wednesday.
[Read More]
Source: Seatrade Asia

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Yangzijiang Shipbuilding buys another yard

Singapore: Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings) Ltd, a Singapore and Taiwan-listed shipping service provider, said it will spend RMB 420m to acquire entire equities of Jiangsu Zhongzhou Marine Equipment Co Ltd.
[Read More]
Source: Seatrade Asia

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Box ship charter rates fall in slack fourth quarter

CHARTER rates for container ships have been declining during the seasonally slow fourth quarter, particularly as uncertainty surrounds carriers over cargo volumes and freight rates heading into the new year.
A report by The Journal of Commerce said that the market for gearless Panamax vessels of 3,500 TEU capacity has experienced the sharpest fall, with daily earnings decreasing to US$13,250 from $19,000 in September, according to London-based shipbroker Clarkson.
[Read More]
Source: Shipping Online.cn

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Container shipping rides high on trade rebound, but caution is advised

Container shipping has been enjoying a gold run, hampered only by recent freight rates falls, as a result of overcapacity. Still, a recent report from BIMCO suggests that while the slide in rates should continue of oversupply of capacity isn’t reduced (and so far some liners appear to be hesitant to take capacity out of service), the report predicts that demand will remain firm during 2011 (in the higher single-digit area), although not a very strong rebound should be expected. “Private consumption in the main consumer societies of Europe and the US continues to struggle. For the recovery to become sustainable, private consumption has to take over from the large public stimulus packages that have driven demand forward – and we are still waiting for that to happen in a number of key countries. This is why the IMF just recently revised the growth forecast for the US downwards, while the growth forecast for EU, despite being upwardly adjusted, still remains quite depressed” said BIMCO’s analyst Peter Sand.
[Read More]
Source: Hellenic Shipping News

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Europe container volumes outstrip North America

Container volumes to Europe are increasing at a faster rate than to North America, according to a report by an independent transport analysis firm.
[Read More]
Source: Baird Maritime

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Hyundai delays 13,100TEU's

Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) is postponing the delivery of eight containerships at the request of Germany's Nordcapital.
[Read More]
Source: Asiasis

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Argentina’s YPF, Union Reach Deal to End Work Stoppage

Senior personnel at Argentine oil company YPF agreed Saturday to end a 17-day strike that had paralyzed output in the Patagonia region, the workers’ union and company sources said.
The employees agreed to accept binding arbitration ordered by the Labor Ministry following a nine-hour meeting at the headquarters of that portfolio, Elvio Pena, the union’s adjunct secretary, said.
[Read more]
Source: Latin American Herald Tribune

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Vietnam shipbuilder faces debt deadline

Vietnam's nearly-bankrupt shipbuilder Vinashin faced a debt payment deadline Monday as wider economic fallout from the state-owned firm's crisis prompted speculation of a government bailout.
The firm was still awaiting a response from its creditors on a request to delay for one year the initial 60-million-dollar instalment due Monday, company chairman Nguyen Ngoc Su was quoted as saying in the state-linked Tin Tuc newspaper.
[Read More]
Source: AFP

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OECD has decided to terminate negotiations on a Shipbuilding Agreement,

The OECD has decided to terminate negotiations on a Shipbuilding Agreement, following a recommendation from Ambassador Harald Neple, Chair of the OECD’s Council Working Party on Shipbuilding (WP6). Negotiations began in 2002 and were paused in September 2005.
In reaching this decision the OECD Council took note of the advice by Ambassador Neple that, despite intensive efforts to restart negotiations, the differences of view amongst some parties on the treatment of pricing, in both the negotiations and in any final Agreement, had proven impossible to bridge.  The pricing issue had also been identified by the Chair of the Special Negotiating Group, Ambassador Jaggi, when he paused the negotiations in 2005.
[Read More]
Source: Balkans.com

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Nigeria militants claim attacks on oil facilities

A militant faction in Nigeria's oil-producing Niger Delta said Saturday it was behind attacks on oil facilities operated by U.S. energy firm Chevron and Italian oil company Agip Friday.
The Niger Delta Liberation Force (NDLF) said in an emailed statement that it had struck three flow stations in Delta state using remotely activated bombs.
[Read more]
Source: Reuters

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Seoul goes ahead with firing drill despite war threat

South Korea launched live firing drills in a disputed area on Monday despite threats of war from Pyongyang after an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting failed to agree on how to defuse the crisis.
[Read More]
Source: Reuters

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Ecuador judge closes proof phase of Chevron suit

The Ecuadorean judge hearing a $27 billion environmental damages case against U.S. oil producer Chevron Corp told Reuters on Friday that he has closed the evidentiary phase of the trial.
Local farmers and indigenous tribes in Ecuador's Amazon region want the company to pay for the cleanup of areas they say were polluted by faulty drilling practices in the 1970s and 1980s.
[Read more]
Source: Reuters

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27 dead in Mexico pipeline blast

A massive oil pipeline explosion lay waste to parts of a central Mexican city, incinerating people, cars, houses and trees as gushing crude turned streets into flaming rivers. At least 27 people were killed, 12 of them children, in a disaster authorities blamed on oil thieves.
[Read more]
Source: The Hindu

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Ping An buys HK$197 mln shares in Sino Oil & Gas

Sino Oil and Gas Holdings Ltd. said Ping An Insurance (Group) Co of China Ltd (2318.HK: Quote) (601318.SS: Quote) bought 4.8 percent of its enlarged share capital in a placement for HK$197 million ($25.4 million).
[Read more]
Source: Reuters

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Texon Petroleum Limited First Eagle Ford Well Flowed

Texon Petroleum Limited advises that its first Eagle Ford well, Tyler Ranch EFS #1H, has flowed 1,267 boepd representing 1,202 bpd of light sweet crude oil and 782 mcfpd of gas with a flowing tubing pressure of 2610 psi through a 16/64" choke. Some of the frac fluid is also still being recovered.
[Read more]
Source: ABN Newswire

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Burleson Energy Limited Advises D.Truchard NO.1 Well To Be Completed

Burleson Energy Limited is pleased to advise that the decision has been made to complete the D.Truchard #1 well for production following electric logging. D.Truchard #1 is an appraisal well in the Heintschel field in Colorado County, Texas. Evaluation of the well is continuing, however, the early logs indicated that hydrocarbons are present in over 300 feet (~90 metres) of the target Prairie Bell Wilcox sands and that there are several zones of interest above and below the Prairie Bell.
[Read more]
Source: ABN Newswire

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Clough awarded contract offshore Indonesia

Engineering and construction company Clough Limited announces that Clough and partner PT Advanced Offshore Services have been awarded a contract by a major international operator for remedial work, offshore Indonesia.
The scope of work will be carried out from Clough’s derrick lay barge, Java 
Constructor.  Preparatory work will commence immediately and offshore mobilisation 
is anticipated to be early January 2011 for a campaign of approximately 30 days.
Source: Press release

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Saipem wins two downstream projects worth $1.2B

Saipem has been awarded new onshore contracts with a total value in excess of $1.2 billion.
 Kharafi National awarded Saipem the EPC contract for the Early Production Facility Project for the Jurassic field, located in the North of Kuwait, approximately 50 kilometers northwest of Kuwait City. 
The contract encompasses the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning of the Early Production Facilities, which will have an oil and gas treatment capacity of 150,000 barrels per day in this first phase of development, and of the gathering system and pipelines, next to a sulphur granulation plant. 
The works will be completed in the second quarter of 2013. 
In Syria, Dijla Petroleum Company has awarded Saipem the lump sum turn key contract for the Central Processing Facility to be installed at the Khurbet East oil field, on Block 26. Saipem will carry out the engineering, procurement and construction of a plant (Central Processing Facility) with the capacity to process 50,000 barrels of fluids per day. 
The works will be completed in 20 months.
Source: Press release

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Transocean Ordered to Turn Over Safety Records

A federal judge has ordered Transocean Ltd. to turn over a batch of safety records to a government panel probing the deadly rig explosion that spawned the massive Gulf oil spill.
[Read more]
Source: ABC News

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Penn Virginia sees lower FY11 capex on gas weakness

Gas-focused energy company Penn Virginia Corp forecast a lower 2011 spending budget, citing weak gas price environment and outlook.
The company, however, sees higher output as it expects production to rise in the second half of the year.
[Read more]
Source: Reuters

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US drilling activity takes 14-rig hit

US drilling activity decreased this week by 14 rotary rigs to 1,709 working. This compared with 1,193 active units in the same period a year ago, reported Baker Hughes Inc. 
Most of the losses were in land drilling, down by 13 units to 1,670. Offshore drilling was unchanged with 23 rigs working, all in the Gulf of Mexico. Inland waters activity was down by 1 to 16 rigs working. 
[Read more]
Source: Oil & Gas Journal

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Azerbaijan, Ukraine to sign agreements on oil and liquefied gas supplies

At the later stages of the year the Ukraine and Azerbaijan may sign agreements on annual supplies of five million tons of oil and seven billion cubic meters of liquefied gas to the Ukraine, the Azerbaijani Industry and Energy Minister Natig Aliyev said in an interview with the Ukrainian government newspaper "Uryadovy Kuryer", Reuters reported.
[Read more]
Sourse: Trend

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Petrobras discovers light oil at Indra in the Espiritu Santo Basin offshore Brazil

Brazilian super major Petrobras has discovered light oil with its Indra prospect in the waters of the Espiritu Santo Basin offshore Brazil. 
Located about 140 kilometers from the city of Vitoria, well 1-BRSA-882-ESS was drilled on Block ES-M-594, or the BM-ES-32 Exploratory Concession. 
Drilled by the Paul Wolfe semisubmersible to a total depth of 3,850 meters, the Indra discovery well transected 70 meters of light oil in sandstone reservoirs. The deepest oil discovery in Espirito Santo Basin, the oil and natural gas reservoir is situated in waters measuring 2,100 meters deep. 
Initial data estimates that the Indra oil accumulation ranges from 25 to 30 degrees API, with an oil quality very similar to the Golfinho field 70 kilometers away. Additional tests are necessary to determine the volume, extend and productivity of the reservoir. 
Petrobras serves as the operator of the concession with 60 percent interest, and Norwegian major Statoil holds the remaining 40 percent interest.
Source: Press release

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Total, Suncor ink oil sands agreements, plan to progress projects

Total’s subsidiary Total E&P Canada Ltd. and Suncor Energy Inc. have signed several agreements to form a strategic oil sands alliance encompassing the Suncor-operated Fort Hills mining project, the Total-operated Joslyn mining project and the Suncor-operated Voyageur upgrader project. 
All three assets are located in the Athabasca region of the province of Alberta, Canada. Under the alliance, the companies will pool their combined interests in these projects, with the respective operator holding 51% and the other partner 49%. 
[Read more]
Source: Penn Energy

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Australia: Total increases stake in Gladstone LNG project

French major Total announced the signature of an agreement to acquire an additional 7.5% interest in Australia’s GLNG (Gladstone LNG) project from Santos for an amount of US $281.25 million. This will increase Total’s overall stake in the project to 27.5%. 
At the same time, South Korea’s Kogas has signed an agreement to join the project with a 15% stake and has also committed to lift 3.5 million tons per year (Mt/y) of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). Given the 3.5 Mt/y of LNG lifted by Petronas, the GLNG project has now firm offtakers for most of its two trains and a final investment decision on the two-train project will be made in January 2011. Kogas’ entry means that Total will no longer be committed to lift LNG from GLNG. 
Once the transactions have been finalized, operator Santos will hold 30%; Petronas, 27.5%; Total, 27.5%; and Kogas, 15%. The transactions are subject to the approval of Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board. 
The GLNG Project 
The integrated Gladstone LNG project consists of extracting coal seam gas from the Fairview, Arcadia, Roma and Scotia fields, located in the Bowen-Surat Basin in Queensland, eastern Australia. The fields’ resources are estimated at over 250 billion cubic metres (Gm3) (9 trillion cubic feet) of gas. The Fairview field already produces 2.4 million cubic metres (Mm3) (80 million cubic feet) a day for the local market. The partners of the GLNG project will develop their share of these fields to reach a production plateau of 9 Gm3 per year, ie 900 million cubic feet per day (41,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in Total’s share). 
The project also includes transporting the production over approximately 400 kilometres to a gas liquefaction plant in the industrial port of Gladstone, northeast of Brisbane, on the eastern coast of Australia. The GLNG liquefaction plant will consist of two trains with a total production capacity of 7.2 Mt/y. 
With the final investment decision in January 2011, the forecast start-up date for the first train is 2015. The LNG plant is expected to reach its plateau production in 2016 for more than 20 years. 
Source: Press release

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Southwestern Energy sees higher output in 2011

Southwestern Energy Co expects production in 2011 to increase 18 percent, but cut its capital investment plan for the year by 10 percent.
In 2011, the oil and gas company expects to produce 465-475 billion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent, up from 393-401 bcfe estimated for 2010.
[Read more]
Source: Reuters

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Dart Energy Limited Anounces Fortune Liulin Gas Limited Equity Increase

Dart Energy Limited, Global coal bed methane (CBM) company, today announced that it had exercised its option to increase its equity stake in Fortune Liulin Gas Ltd (FLG) to 45%.
[Read more]
Source: ABN Newswire

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Energy XXI Closes Acquisition of Gulf of Mexico Shelf Properties From ExxonMobil

Energy XXI announced it has completed the previously announced purchase of certain shallow-water Gulf of Mexico shelf oil and natural gas interests from ExxonMobil and its affiliates.
The acquisition nearly doubles the company's reserves and production profile, adding approximately 20,000 net barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) per day of production, about 53 percent of which is oil, and an estimated 66 million BOE of net proved and probable reserves, 61 percent of which is oil. Offshore leases included in the purchase total 130,853 net acres.
[Read more]
Source: Stock Markets Review

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Daewoo Shipbuilding Unit Joins $3B Papua New Guinea LNG Project-Source

South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co.'s (042660.SE) will build an LNG floating, processing, storage and offloading facility for $2.1 billion in a Papua New Guinean project worth about $3 billion, joined by its energy-exploring subsidiary and two companies, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said early Monday.
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Source: Wall Street Journal

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Danish consortium researches sonar oil spill detection

A consortium comprised of RESON A/S and Center for Energy Resources Engineering at The Technical University of Denmark (DTU-CERE) will research the use of sonar for getting a detailed picture of oil in the water column and on the seafloor after a spill. 
The project, under the Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation (Højteknologifonden), will look at a reliable method of detecting and mapping oil in sea water.
[Read more]
Source: Digital Energy Journal

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Woodside awards Lady Nora concept study to Pöyry-Peritus

Peritus International Asia Pacific reports that the Pöyry-Peritus partnership will do a concept definition study for the Lady Nora development offshore Western Australia. Woodside Energy made the award as operator for the North West Shelf Venture. 
[Read more]
Source: Offshore Magazine

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Petrofac announces positive year-end results

Oil and gas facilities provider Petrofac (PFC) today said its net profit for the year was in line with expectations, with like-for-like year-on-year growth of at least 20%.
In its pre-close trading update the FTSE 100-listed firm said it expected order intake for the year to 31 December to be $4.4 billion. This will result in a year-end backlog of around $8.4 billion, up from $8.1 billion in the same period last year.
[Read more]
Source: Interactive Investor

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WikiLeaks: BP's 'Other' Offshore Drilling Disaster

A BP offshore oil platform suddenly shows signs of a potentially devastating leak. Bubbles form in the seawater. Alarms sound. Panicked oil workers flee the rig. That may sound like the moments that preceded last April's Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, but it actually describes an event 19 months earlier, in the Caspian Sea waters of tiny Azerbaijan. There are uncanny echoes of the Azerbaijan incident in the Deepwater Horizon tragedy, including the likely cause — a faulty cement job. But there was one marked difference: While the Gulf explosion created an ongoing political firestorm, the Azerbaijan leak remained almost forgotten until last week, when another leak — this time of diplomatic cables, released by WikiLeaks — showed just how close BP had come to a major disaster in the Caspian.

[Read more]

Source: Time

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Det Norske Gets the Nod for Drilling Wildcat Well Offshore Norway

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate has granted Det norske oljeselskap ASA a drilling permit for wellbore 6305/9-2, cf. Section 8 of the Resource Management Regulations.
[Read more]
Source: Offshore Energy Today

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Cyprus and Israel sign deal demarcating sea borders

Cyprus and Israel have signed an accord demarcating their maritime borders to facilitate offshore gas exploration. Cyprus Foreign Minister Markos Kyprianou and Israel's Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau signed the deal in Nicosia, the Mediterranean island's capital on Friday.
[Read more]
Source: Haaretz

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Ithaca Energy Inc. Acquires Certain UK North Sea Gas Interests form GDF Suez

Ithaca Energy Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary Ithaca Energy (UK) Limited , an independent oil & gas company with exploration, development and production assets in the UK sector of the North Sea, announces that the Company has completed a transaction to acquire certain UK North Sea gas interests from GDF Suez E&P UK Ltd for an adjusted cash consideration of £6.7 million (approximately US$10.5 million) (the “Acquisition”).
[Read more]
Source: Offshore Energy Today

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Valiant Closes Refinancing Of Existing Senior, Subordinated Debt Facilities

Oil and gas company Valiant Petroleum plc said it has completed the refinancing of its existing senior and subordinated debt facilities into a five-year, US$335 million Senior Secured Borrowing Base Facility after receiving credit approved commitments in excess of US$400 million.
[Read more]
Source: RTT News

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Fluor Offshore Project Named Platts Engineering Project of the Year

Fluor Corporation announced today that the Bohai Phase II Development Project was named by Platts as its Engineering Project of the Year in the Premier Projects category at the recent 2010 Global Energy Awards gala in New York, N.Y. The Bohai Phase II Development Project is located off China’s coast. The Fluor offshore engineering project was the sole unanimous selection of the 17 winners and more than 150 finalists.
[Read more]
Source: Bradenton 

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Suncor Energy ups production target in 10-year strategic plan

Expecting to spend more than $4.1 billion on the oilsands next year, Canada's largest energy company plans to up its oilsands production by more than one million barrels by 2020.
[Read more]
Source: Fort McMurray Today

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Saipem Wins New Offshore Contracts in Kazakhstan and USA Worth $700 Milion

The amount refers to newly awarded contracts for activities to be carried out between 2011 and 2014, in the Gulf of Mexico, and in Kazakhstan, alongside other works in the North Sea and Azerbaijan. It also includes increases in the scope of work on existing offshore contracts.
[Read more]
Source:  Offshore Evergy Today

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Cochin Shipyard bags MOU Excellence Award

Cochin Shipyard Ltd has been conferred with the MOU Excellence Award to fecilitate the PSU’s performance during 2008-09.
The award was presented by Dr Manmohan Singh prime minister to the company’s officiating Mr K Subramaniam CMD and director (Operations) at a function in New Delhi.
[Read More]
Source: Steel Guru

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Russian shipbuilders seek funds to complete frigates for India

Russian business daily Kommersant reported that Russian shipbuilding plant Yantar has asked Russia state arms exporter, Rosoboronexport for an additional USD 100 million to complete construction of three frigates for the Indian Navy.
[Read More]
Source: Steel Guru

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